papermaker
Growing up in a mill town brought resonance to my illustration for Papermaker by Monica Wood, now playing at Portland Stage Company. J. E. Henry built his mill in Lincoln, New Hampshire back in 1892, but it was in decline by the time I was in high school in the 1970’s. Still, our team was the Lumberjacks. My most vivid memory was of those smokestacks, a recurring element in all of my rough sketches. It seemed necessary to collage some newspaper in there somewhere, too. After all, I began my freelance career in newspapers, namely the Boston Globe. The play is set in a fictional Maine...
Read Morewarm wishes
Perhaps I worked at Hallmark in another life. I love greeting cards. Making them, buying them, sending them. With the advent of e-cards, I’m even more determined to snail mail something that is handsomely crafted and lovingly decorated. While still pondering what this year’s holiday greeting might look like, I re-purposed some old postcards, with a circle cutter, a glue stick, and some fun handmade papers I bought. Paired with colorful envelopes and scraps of old wrapping paper, off they went to the Peaks Island Post Office. The arctic fox illustration is from A Warmer World by...
Read Morewhat the dickens
Once again, Portland Stage Company debuts another season of A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens’ holiday classic written over 170 years ago. I was thrilled to create the marketing visual, back in July 2014 when Christmas felt a century away. This is a return of post I made in November of that year. They are using the illustration again; some things bear repeating, right? At the time, a new look was at hand, allowing a half-circular space for illustration. I couldn’t get the idea of ornaments out of my head, and these preliminary sketches all played a part in the final image. In...
Read Moremoony blues
It’s my honor once again to contribute to next year’s Lunar Calendar published by The Luna Press. I’ve been part of this fine endeavor since 1983, with it’s moon phases exerting a greater pull over time. I check it daily for the moonrise times, and embrace the swell of full moon energy every cycle. I submitted seven cover ideas to editor Nancy F. W. Passmore, including this one that overlapped my freshly completed project, Tiger Boy, set in India. My head was still full of naukas (fishing boats) and alpanas (decorative designs.) Nancy also provides a bounty of poetic...
Read Moredaring adventures in collage
When my super talented kin Mati Rose McDonough asked to interview me for her colorful e-course, Daring Adventures in Collage, I said YEAH! It prompted me to consider my connections to collage and the currents running through all my work. I didn’t discover collage formally until art history class at RISD, but had made cut paper cards as a child. This is my first published illustration, incorporating a scrap of Dick and Jane text to reference an educational crisis in teaching, August of 1980! My first eight years of freelance illustration in Boston brought opportunities for collage added...
Read Morerock party
Islands have a certain magnetism. Is it any wonder that some folks live on more than one island? Our Peaks Island neighbor Elena recently celebrated her birthday on Monhegan Island, where she also has a home. I made her this paper collage card. Daisy made this one: We left our island in dense fog, drove up to New Harbor, and took the Hardy Boat in yet more fog. Upon arrival we stretched our legs by heading up to the lighthouse, where the view is spectacular no matter the weather. The fog lifted just at dusk, revealing a glowing full moon. We walked back down to the dock, where the Island Inn...
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